Germany manufacturing rebounds in January – survey

LONDON (ICIS)--?xml:namespace>Germany’s manufacturing sector rebounded in January, with production levels rising for the first time in four months, a research firm said on Wednesday.

London-based Markit said its monthly purchasing managers’ index for Europe’s largest economy was 51.0 in January, up from 48.4 in December. The index is based on a survey of 500 companies in the German manufacturing sector.

“January saw a reversal of the recent downturn in German manufacturing production, and the rate of output expansion was the highest since the middle of last year,” said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit.